Chapter 12: The Second Son Cannot Be Saved!

Xu Ze had drifted into sleep, but that night, there were many who could not find rest.

At last, the clock struck midnight, and new songs from all the major entertainment companies were released in unison. Five minutes past midnight, the November chart on the Huaxia music platform began to refresh. Fans from various entertainment companies and singers’ fan clubs rallied their forces.

On the Chinese New Song Chart, King Han from Imperial Entertainment claimed the top spot with “Simply Too Beautiful,” its downloads surpassing twenty thousand right from the opening. The second place, from Tide Entertainment, lagged behind with only five thousand downloads—a gap that was impossible to ignore.

Meanwhile, on the Network Singer New Song Chart, the top-ranked song had barely reached one hundred downloads. This was the difference between amateurs and the professionals.

Yu Xiaoxiao was a student at the Kyoto Conservatory, majoring in music. She was also the vice president of King Han’s fan support group. The fan club had notified everyone early on—King Han was releasing a new song tonight.

Yu Xiaoxiao waited beside her computer, and as soon as midnight struck, she downloaded “Simply Too Beautiful.” As vice president, she rallied her classmates and friends to help boost the song’s ranking.

Seeing King Han’s song claim first place as soon as the chart opened, Yu Xiaoxiao finally breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did she press play, happily enjoying the music.

“His electronic sound is still so captivating,” Yu Xiaoxiao sighed.

Her roommate, Tang Juan, at Yu Xiaoxiao’s urging, was forced to listen to “Simply Too Beautiful” once through. Afterwards, she looked at Yu Xiaoxiao with disdain and said, “Xiaoxiao, can’t you stop letting your idol’s looks cloud your judgment? We’re music students, after all—shouldn’t you have some professional standards?”

Yu Xiaoxiao propped her chin stubbornly. “What’s wrong with my idol? Isn’t his song good? It’s dominating the charts—you just don’t know how to appreciate it.”

Tang Juan became spirited. “Do you believe I can randomly pick a song from the network singer chart, and it’ll be better than your idol’s?”

Yu Xiaoxiao felt her idol was being insulted. Furious, she exclaimed, “Tang Juan! You can insult me, but don’t insult my idol. How dare you compare a network singer to him!”

“If you can find a song from that shabby chart that’s better than my idol’s, I’ll let you touch me however you like!”

Tang Juan’s eyes lit up, “Really?”

She’d long been eyeing Yu Xiaoxiao—petite but generously endowed, her favorite thing was burying her head against her, though Yu Xiaoxiao always refused.

Tang Juan immediately began searching through the network singer chart. But after listening to a few songs with her headphones, she started to regret her challenge.

Why did she insist on finding a song from the network singer chart? Most of them were unspeakable messes.

King Han’s song, though arguably overrated, was still much more professional than these amateur works.

Just as she was about to concede defeat, she noticed a song title that seemed familiar.

“When You’re Lonely, Who Will You Think Of?”

Wasn’t this the same song that trended on Weibo last night?

It had actually been released on the platform—she’d assumed it was some entertainment company’s marketing stunt, but here it was among the network singer new releases, meaning it had trended purely on merit.

With this in mind, she hurriedly clicked play. The intro was a graceful violin accompaniment, full of atmosphere.

Then the main melody began:

[Your mood is always flying]
[You want to chase after everything]
…

In an instant, Tang Juan’s skin prickled with goosebumps.

As a music student, her appreciation skills far exceeded the average listener.

If the guitar version from yesterday deserved 70 points, this fully produced version easily scored 95 or above.

The singer’s flawless voice, paired with stunning composition and arrangement, made it a top-tier pop song.

But such a song appeared in the network singer chart?

A hidden master among amateurs!

She looked at the singer’s name: “Salted Fish.”

Master Salted Fish!

After listening once, Tang Juan paid to download the song and began her second loop.

Yu Xiaoxiao, watching Tang Juan’s dazed expression, boasted, “See, you couldn’t find anything better.”

After the second listen, Tang Juan removed her headphones, flashed Yu Xiaoxiao a mysterious smile, and made clawing motions in the air.

Five minutes later…

“I don’t accept it! I still don’t think it’s better than my idol’s song!” Yu Xiaoxiao protested stubbornly.

“Oh? Then let’s vote.” Tang Juan addressed their other two roommates. “Raise your hand if you think Salted Fish’s song is better!”

Swish! Three right hands shot up.

Admit defeat, Yu Xiaoxiao!

“Ah…” The dorm was soon filled with Yu Xiaoxiao’s cries as she was playfully tormented.

Minutes later, “When You’re Lonely, Who Will You Think Of?” had climbed to number one on the network singer chart, its downloads reaching a thousand and still rising rapidly.

The following morning.

In the artist office of Tide Entertainment, one of the four major companies.

Singer Zheng Yu and his manager sat on the sofa, repeatedly refreshing the music website on their tablet.

After a while, the manager sighed, patted Zheng Yu’s shoulder, and said helplessly, “We can’t beat King Han on this month’s new song chart.”

“Imperial Entertainment is pushing King Han hard—they’ve invested heavily, and tonight he’s appearing on ‘I Am a Singer-Songwriter’ as well.”

“The show airing and the chart-topping new song—King Han is unstoppable.”

Zheng Yu grumbled, “How can someone like him be promoted to a judge? Where does he get the nerve?”

“Well, they do have a star composer.” The manager consoled him, “That master gave King Han ‘Simply Too Beautiful’—it may be a bit generic, but it leaves an impression. The overall quality is not bad.”

“Second place this month isn’t too shabby for us.”

“Our old rivals’ new releases are only third and fourth.”

Suddenly, Zheng Yu looked up, puzzled. “Hey, have you heard of a singer named Salted Fish? Which company is he with?”

“What fish?”

“Salted Fish.” Zheng Yu handed the tablet to his manager. “Look, this song in third place on the overall chart, ‘When You’re Lonely, Who Will You Think Of,’ is by Salted Fish.”

His manager clicked open the Chinese new song chart, confused. “Isn’t third place Wang Bingbing from Icefire Entertainment?”

“Where’s this Salted Fish?”

Zheng Yu pointed at the platform. “Look at the overall chart—Salted Fish is a network singer.”

Network singer?

The manager was stunned. Since when did a network singer qualify for the overall chart, let alone rank third?

Even at the start of the month, nothing like this had ever happened.

Zheng Yu reminded him, “Hey, this song trended on Weibo two nights ago—a guy in a white hat singing in a bar.”

At Zheng Yu’s reminder, the manager recalled the incident.

So, in their office, they turned up the speakers and listened.

After a while, having finished the song, Zheng Yu sat, savoring it, while his manager stood by the window making phone calls.

Minutes later, the manager told Zheng Yu that no further information could be found about Salted Fish—he was apparently a wild, independent network singer.

Hearing this, Zheng Yu stroked his chin and said seriously to his manager, “Bro, I think my second place might not last!”